Iowa Girl Eats » couscous

The Story of Us

admin — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 23:15:43 +0000

Hello!

Tonight I made use of the other half of my large salmon filet from Costco, and whipped up some Asian Salmon for dinner…made with salad dressing!

Truth! I picked up some Sesame Soy Ginger Vinaigrette at Trader Joe’s when I was in Minneapolis last weekend (word to you lucky Omaha peeps who are the proud new owners of a TJ’s!!!) and knew right away it would be delish.

I like using salad dressing for marinating and sauteing salmon in (or chicken, or shrimp, for that matter!), because it does a really great job of permeating the fish and giving it tons of flavor. Plus, it’s pre-made – you just have to grab it out of your fridge!

I marinated my filets for ~10 minutes, then cooked them up the same way I usually do - only this time, I added the remaining marinade to the skillet after I flipped the filets and took off the skin. It made the salmon nice and crusty!

It depends on the size of your filet, but I cooked mine for ~3-4 minutes per side, until it was still slightly bouncy and pink in the center. Like buttah, I tell ya’!

I placed my salmon on a bed of Asian CousCous Stir Fry…at least, that’s what I’m calling it!

I cooked up 1/3 cup Israeli CousCous in 1/3 cup + 1/4 cup chicken broth. Meanwhile, I microwaved some broccoli for 2 minutes, cut up 2 green onions and got 2 big handfuls of baby spinach ready.

When the salmon filets were done, I removed them to a plate and added another tablespoon of vinaigrette to the hot pan. I threw my spinach in and after it wilted, added in the broccoli, green onion and cooked couscous. Stir until everything is coated in the sauce, and you’re done!

I adored the Israeli couscous in here because it’s similar in texture to Japanese Udon Noodles, which fit in really well with the Asian theme of the dish!

That Sesame Soy Ginger Vinaigrette is incredible too - slightly salty, with little punches of sweetness. I just loved it! The tender veggies soaked it right up – YUM!

In other news, my inner nerd – the one who enjoys touring Living History Farms & southern plantations (ugh I miss NOLA), and aspires to be a Japanese historian – rejoiced when I found out that America: The Story of Us is on the History Channel tonight! I shall be learning how we got from the tiny settlements of Plymouth, MA, to fighting for our independence in the Revolutionary War…all while decorating sugar cookies. What fun!

Night!

~~~~~

What were your favorite subjects in school?

Mine were home ec (obvi) and ceramics. My Mom and Dad still display all my random, clay creations on shelves in their house!! Funnily enough, I remember history class being snoozeville. I don’t know how I came to love it as much as I do now!

Feeling a Little Like This…

admin — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 00:02:42 +0000

Oooo, it’s been a rough day my friends, a rough day indeed. I’m feeling better now, but after a trip to the doctor, more work than I could do in a year and some rotten asparagus, I’m feeling a wee bit like this:

It could be worse though…it really could. So lets just fast forward to the rotten asparagus…

Tonight’s menu was to be a re-creation of a Sweet Soy Glazed Pork Tenderloin dish I made back in July (2 days after my birthday, actually!)

Tonight, though I was going to use a skinless, boneless turkey breast instead of pork. I was going to serve some amazing garlic-roasted asparagus on the side too, but when I went to take my bundle out of the fridge – all the tips were mush. D’OH!! I was crushed…

Moving past it, I continued with my Sweet Soy Glazed Turkey Breast, because it had been marinating in my fridge all day and was ready to go straight into the oven – yes! In the asparagus’ place, I served some handy, frozen Corn and CousCous.

The sweet-soy glaze uses soy sauce, brown sugar, olive oil, and CINNAMON. The star ingredient!

I wanted a little sauce to drizzle over my turkey, so I stuck with the sweet theme of the dish, and let some teriyaki sauce bubble away on the stove until it was slightly thickened. It was the perfect sweet and easy sauce for this dish!

Instead of making my couscous with water, I made it with chicken broth. It really takes couscous to a whole other level.

And thanks goodness for frozen corn! This is one vegetable that I think freezes really, really well. I can’t eat any other frozen-then-thawed veggies…their textures are just too funky for this lady!

So…while we were minus some roasted asparagus, I think tonight’s dinner still turned out really well! I would kiss my morning self if I could for marinating the turkey breast while I was work so I could just pop it in the oven this evening!

Well friends, I am calling this day a WRAP!

GOSSIP GIRL SEASON PREMIERE TONIGHT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hello Toucan Sam!

admin — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 12:30:00 +0000

Good morning everyone!

Last night Ben and I went and had ourselves a good ol’ fashioned date night! We went to a Japanese/Asian restaurant here in town – Wok in Motion. For those of you who know of it – their sushi is good and their main dishes are GREAT! They have got THE best fried rice I’ve ever had in my life, hands down. It’s light, fluffy and seriously needs a support hotline – it’s addicting! Their Kung Pao Chicken cannot be beat either…drool. Last night though, I wasn’t too hungry, so I stuck with some smaller dishes.

First, some steamed shrimp dumplings (photos courtesy of Google since the restaurant was so dim!):

Super light, chewy and flavorful.

For my main dish, I ordered an Alaskan Roll filled with salmon, avocado, lettuce, crab and cucumber. I could eat salmon all day long…I LOVE it!

After dinner we headed over to Ben’s parents house to let their dog out.

Hey – watch it young lady, that’s my man!

We ended up staying for awhile – because it’s fun to hang out at other people’s houses! – and had dessert. After digging through the cupboards, we found the following loot:

Twizzlers
Fudgsicles
Ice cream sundae cones
Cookies
Many, many other delicious items

Honestly – Ben’s parents are two of the smallest people ever and for the life of me I don’t understand how they stay that way with all these goodies in the house!! Anyways, after weighing all my options, I chose: Fruit Loops!! OMG I have not had fruit loops in AGES and they were just as good I as I remembered!

The smell of fruit loops actually reminds me of my college dining center for some reason…love it. Oooo, I just remembered that I promised you dessert with a banana + food processor last night. No worries, it’s back on my agenda for this evening!

When we finally made it home we were exhausted and went straight to bed – but not before I did something I found semi ingenious…I pre-made my morning Green Monster! Maybe you already do this, but I thought it was pretty clever I filled my blender with spinach, milk, oatmeal & peanut butter, put the lid on, and set it in the fridge.

This morning after a chilly morning Mom walk (it was 50 degrees!!) all I had to do was take it out, blend, add my ice & banana, blend again – and my smoothie was ready!

Why didn’t I think of this before? Pre-making the base of my green monster seriously shaved like 4 minutes off my morning routine! AND I’m convinced that the oatmeal sitting in the milk overnight made the smoothie creamier. It was seriously like ice cream today. Ooooh-so-good

Last night I also made a 2 minute couscous lunch to take today. Yes – 2 minutes!

I combined 1/3 cup couscous, 1/3 cup water and dashes of S&P, garlic and onion powders in a tupperware container, then microwaved for 2 minutes. Today, I added it to a container of broccoli I had leftover from the other night – and lunch was ready!

This couscous has 7g of fiber and 8g of protein per serving – should be perfect for a light lunch!

Old Faithful also made the lunch bag – a Braeburn apple

Hey – I just realized it’s Friday! This week goes down in the record books as one of the fastest weeks of my life. Summer – slow down!! Any fun plans this weekend?!

~~~~~

Someone asked me yesterday what time I get up and go to bed. Usually I get up around 5:20 because my Mom and I walk at 5:30. I am always, ALWAYS in bed by 10, at the latest.

How about you? What time do you get up and wake up? Is there a threshold that if you don’t get to bed by, you are a wreck the next day?

Brussel Sprouts on the Brain

admin — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 23:41:04 +0000

Evening!

Glad to see interest in the giveaway! Looks like most people are looking forward to tasting the Barney Butter and the Lara Bars – BOTH amazing! Also, side note, the winner will be picked randomly from all entries. Make sure you hit up all three ways to enter, if you can

Today I left work a little early for a doctor’s appointment, so the day flew by, actually. I didn’t hate that at all! Afterwards, I came home to wait for the washing machine repair man. The diagnosis: the appliance company gave me all the wrong information, so NOTHING was fixed! The serviceman quickly figured out that he wasn’t getting paid and booked it out the door. I called my mom – because, don’t moms fix everything?? – and she harrassed the appliance company for basically wasting my time and the serviceman’s time. The outcome: someone will be helping us tomorrow Seriously, never mess with my mom – she will accomplish anything she puts her mind to – and bonus, she’s not rude about it!

So I’ve been super jazzed all day today, because I’ve been looking forward to Roasted Brussel Sprouts tonight! I didn’t start roasting vegetables until last year and let me tell you – I’ve never looked back. Ever. It’s so FAST and EASY and DELICIOUS. I roasted the brussel sprouts with a little bit of olive oil, garlic powder, salt and pepper at 400 degrees for about 35 minutes, shaking the pan half way through. I paired them with a small “faked” potato with parm cheese and some couscous made with chicken broth and a little red onion. Ugh, you guys I could eat an entire carton of roasted brussel sprouts, they are so good. In fact, I have on multiple occasions!

Couple of Tips:

Whenever I open a can of broth, and I’m not making soup, I usually end up with it least a half-a-cans worth leftover. I just pour it into a ziploc baggie, or a small gladware container, and stick it in the freezer. Then I can have it on hand whenever I need it!
Here’s a good couscous cooking tutorial. Next time you’re at the grocery store, check to see if you can find it in the bulk bins, or in a bag. Trust me, you’ll want to have it every week - it’s so FUN to eat!

What a winner this meal was - it took one pot to make and had basically no clean up besides my plate and sliverware! I roasted the sprouts on a cookie sheet lined with foil and sprayed with pam, boiled the broth for my couscous in one pot and baked the potato in the microwave on my plate – perfecto!

Dessert was a Peanut Butter Cookie Lara Bar. I could eat four of these a day they are so delicious. Like PB cookie DOUGH!

Question: What’s your favorite “go-to” meal? Mine is stuff like roasted vegetables, with a protein such as a chicken or turkey breast, and a starch like my potato. My mom’s is spaghetti – we had it every Monday growing up!

Cous to the Lung

admin — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 23:48:01 +0000

Whew – just had about the busiest day EVER! I seriously worked and/or was in meetings for the.entire.day. Even through lunch! It’s cool though, tomorrow we’re having a little department pot luck. Should be a good spread, and a nice way to end the week!

Aside from the morning walk with my mom, I decided to take an exercise rest day. I’m going to go listen to my brother preach tonight at church and I didn’t want to have to take a shower before I go! He leads a late night worship service aimed at people in their 20’s and 30’s. It’s great! Check out his website here: http://www.bedeviant.com.

Dinner tonight was cheese ravioli with marinara sauce. Ben actually picked out the sauce – it’s one of his favorites from a small, local restaurant here in town: Gino’s. I like this sauce for three reasons:

I like supporting local businesses
It’s awesome – so fresh tasting, with some spice!
It’s all natural and has a teeny, tiny ingredient list

I HEART small ingredient lists! If I can’t pronounce it, I don’t really love eating it. Coincidentally, this is one of the many reasons I love Lara Bars! I also had some leftover couscous made with chicken broth and some zucchini in the fridge, so I combined those in a skillet with a splash of chicken broth, some garlic and onion powder and called it a side dish.

This dinner was so great – chewy pasta, cheesy filling, savory sauce, fluffy couscous….mmmmMMMM! Speaking of fluffy couscous…have you ever had a brownie with powdered sugar on top, taken a bite and accidentally inhaled some of the sugar, making you cough your brains out?? Ben did that with his couscous tonight and it was hiiiiiilarious…after he recovered his quote was “ugh, I got a little cous to the lung…” ohhh good times at the dinner table!!

Off to go listen to the bro – but watching Ugly Betty first. What a great, feel good show – eh?

Are there any small businesses in your town that sell products you like to buy? What are your thoughts on supporting local business?

Change of Plans

admin — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 00:35:25 +0000

Well my beautiful, spring morning turned into a crummy, cold afternoon, so my outdoor grilling plans moved indoors!

First, the workout. I had to run some errands after work today and if I don’t make it to the gym early, there are never any machines left. So, taking that into account, and in honor of tonight’s Biggest Loser episode, I popped in my Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred DVD. Jillian is…a maniac. But if loving a maniac is wrong, I don’t want to be right!! I totally jive with Jillian’s tough love mentality – it completely motivates me to work hard. If you’ve never tried 30 Day Shred – you’ve got to! This DVD is KILLER. There’s three levels, and since I’ve had it (got it for Christmas) I’ve never made it past level one!! Ok, ok – I’ve only gone through the DVD about a dozen times, but seriously, it never gets easier!! It won’t take the place of running, but if you need a quick, 20 minute workout alternative – this is a great one!

Now – indoor grilling. One thing Iowa has that some of the rest of the country doesn’t – is quality meat! I’m not a HUGE meat eater, but the Iowan in me can never turn down a good piece of steak. I was very pleased to find a sale this week at my grocery store on 8oz Amana quality sirloin steak filets – what a treat! J

I seasoned our steaks with some grill seasoning and popped them onto my flat top griddle – I seriously use this all the time, its awesome – for about 4 minutes per side and then let them hang out in a 450 degree oven for a couple minutes to firm up. Not too long though – I like my steaks rare!

To accompany, I sautéed up some zucchini with vegetable seasoning, cooked up some couscous with onion and garlic (no onion for Ben) in chicken broth, and in about 15 minutes, we were ready to dine!

This meal was awesome. As I’ve said, recipes and meals don’t have to be complicated to be delicious. Tonight was proof of that. Fresh, quality ingredients always do the trick!

Off to watch the Biggest Loser. Who do you think will win? I’m rooting for Tara. Whatever if you don’t like her personality – there is no denying that the girl is a MACHINE! She deserves to win! What do you think about the show? I think it’s totally inspiring. Especially if I feel like I “just can’t” go to the gym. I always tell myself, if a 350 pound, 65 year old contestant on the BL can workout – well, I certainly can too!